Prosecutors are obliged to apologize to persons for groundlessly subjecting them to criminal investigation

The prosecutor that conducted or carried out the criminal investigation or the superior hierarchic prosecutor will grant official pardons on behalf of the status of the person that was groundlessly subjected to a criminal investigation. The parliament approved in first reading a draft law in this respect on Thursday, October 26. The prosecutors’ official pardons will be addressed in case of cancellation of the criminal investigation launched against the person; cessation of investigation in certain cases set by law, and in case of announcing the definitive and irrevocable sentence. They will be offered within 15 days, in written form, and at the request of the victim, the pardons will be broadcast through the same means of information in media through which the information about his/her accusation has been publicized. The draft law was proposed to the MPs by the Ministry of Finances. Within the framework of the same draft, the respective authority proposed also to set a maximum ceiling for repairing the moral damage caused by illicit actions of the criminal investigation bodies, Prosecutor’s office and law courts. According to the draft, the quantum of compensations for illegally imprisonment for every day of detention was settled between 2 and 15 conventional units (40-300 lei), and for other actions, which did not deprive the person of liberty, the quantum was set to maximum 500 conventional units (MDL 10 thousand). In exceptional cases, the quantum must be settled by the law courts. More, MPs and the Legal Commission for Appointments and Immunities did not support this provision, mentioning that both the Civil Code and the European Convention for the Defense of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms do not stipulate the establishment of a ceiling for repairing the caused damage. This provision was not accepted.